As I’m sure you’ve noticed, what North Korea is calling Unha-2 is generally described in the Western media as “Taepodong-2.” (Here’s just one example.)

This is the same name used for the missile that North Korea unsuccessfully tested on July 5, 2006.

But are they really the same missile?

Here’s an orbital happy snap of the missile assembly building at the Musudan-Ri Missile Test Facility / Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, dated June 9, 2006.

And here’s the same thing, dated March 29, 2009.

It’s gotten longer, with an extension on the south end. Does that imply a taller missile?

Beats me. But it’s interesting to compare Geoff Forden’s silhouette of the just-unveiled rocket with Charles Vick’s speculative sketches ca. 2004. That first stage certainly looks bigger and taller than expected.

Now they fuel and we wait.